JPH11212910A - Contents distribution system and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To freely distribute a function limitation version even through there is the limitation to the number of distributions by managing the number of function limitation that are released by a function limitation releasing means by each contents and stopping the release of the function limitations of the function limitation releasing means when the number of distributions reaches the number of distributions that is set to the number of distributions setting information. SOLUTION: A function limitation release designation button 340 is the button which performs releasing of the function limitation of contents by pressing it down by a user. As a result, even time, a user clicks a contents display content 330 with a left butter of a mouse, all the data contents that belong to the content data can be referred to in such a manner that the contents display content is switched to contents 330a and 330b. However, the number of users who can release the function limitation by pressing down the button 340 is limited. Further, the copy 360 of the content 330 can be produced by such a manner that the user drags the contents 330 with a right button of the mouse.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a content distribution system for distributing content stored in a server to users by limiting the number and functions of the content via a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been known to distribute and send product samples through human hands in order to obtain questionnaire data. In this case, however, it is necessary to distribute and send a large number of samples indiscriminately. However, there was a problem if reliable questionnaire data could not be obtained. Reasons for this problem include the inability to identify the recipient and the need for postal mail,
It was troublesome and troublesome.

On the other hand, at present, WWW which downloads data via a network without human intervention
A data distribution system using a network such as FTP or FTP is known.

In a conventional content distribution system using this network, for example, a function-restricted version in which some restrictions are added to the contents to be distributed is distributed free of charge, and a release key is released to a user who wants to release the function restriction for a fee. Is generally known.

[0005]

[0008] When distributing data, product samples, and so-called contents via a network, the distribution destination can be specified, and the result of a questionnaire can be easily obtained using the network. There is an advantage that can be.

[0006] When contents are sent via a network, contents whose functions have been restricted are often distributed as trial versions.

[0007] As a reason for providing the function restriction, for example, level division is performed in advance, and a specific number of contents for language learning with a restriction on contents of a certain level or higher are delivered to a specific partner, and the contents are received. After learning has progressed to a certain level, the user is asked whether or not subsequent learning content is required, and understands how much the user has sent, the continuation of the content sent, or the need for complete content It is in.

In such a questionnaire system, by limiting the number of items to be delivered, reliable questionnaire data can be obtained, so that the purpose of the user and the demand for the product can be grasped.

[0009] Further, as user needs for content distribution through a network are diversified, a usage form that takes into account a hobby element such as collection can be considered. In this case, there is a need for a mechanism that can add a scarce value to contents distributed on a network as well as collecting stamps and coins in the real world.

In general, scarcity can be created by limiting the amount of circulation. This is the same in the case of content distribution over a network. Rare values can be added by limiting the number of contents to be distributed.

Further, in the case of collection in the real world,
You can know the appearance design etc. even if you do not own the real thing by the photos posted in the catalog. As a result, for example, those who have excellent designs have a large number of people who want to obtain them, further increasing their rare value.

In the case of network-distributed contents as well, in order to increase the scarcity value, even if the number of distributions is exceeded, some function-limited version (for example, only digests can be displayed) can be distributed without restriction. Means are required.

[0013] An object of the present invention is to provide a technology capable of reliably grasping a user's request for a product by limiting the number of distributions and giving rare value by restricting the number. Is to provide.

[0014] Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of restricting the number of contents to be distributed, but distributing a function-limited version freely.

[0015]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Among the inventions disclosed in the present invention, typical ones are briefly described as follows. In a content distribution system for distributing content stored in a server to a client via a network, the client includes a browser that displays information of the content from the server, and the server includes: Distribution number setting information for setting the distribution number of the content, content distribution means for distributing the content when receiving the content distribution command from the client, and receiving a function restriction release command from the client A function restriction release unit for releasing the function restriction added to the content, a number of the function restrictions released by the function restriction release unit being managed for each content, and a number set in the distribution number setting information. Function limit of the function restriction release means when the Includes a function restriction release number limitation means for stopping the release, the.

[0016] Further, the browser is provided with means for restricting copying after the function restriction of the content is released.

[0017]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a content distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The content distribution system according to the present embodiment comprises:
As shown in FIG. 1, a delivery client 100 and a delivery server 110 connected thereto via a network are connected. The delivery client 100 and the delivery server 110 are connected via a communication line. Receive various information. The delivery client 100 includes a keyboard 101 and a display 10.
2. CPU 103, mouse 104, communication unit 1
05, a memory 106, and an external storage device 108.

The memory 1 of the delivery client 100
06, an operating system 106a for controlling the entire delivery client 100, a communication program 106b for communicating with the delivery server 110 using a communication protocol such as TCP / IP, and information distributed from the delivery server 110. And a browser program 106c for performing display processing on the display 102. The external storage device 108 stores the already acquired content 10
7, and the contents 201 (107a) and 10045 (107b) in the distribution contents table 114 in FIG. 1 have been obtained.
The delivery server 110 includes a communication unit 111 and a CPU 1
12, the memory 113, and the distribution content table 11
4 and an external storage device 116. External storage device 1
16 is HTML (HyperText Markup)
(Language) source 115 and various contents 1
07 is stored. The memory 113 of the delivery server 110 stores an operating system 113a for controlling the entire delivery server 110, a communication program 113b for communicating with the client 100 using a communication protocol such as TCP / IP, and an HTML source 115 for the client 100. Delivery program 113c for delivery to
And a content delivery program 113d for delivering the various contents 107 to the delivery client 100, and a distribution number management program 113e for managing the distribution number of the various contents 107.

The distribution contents table 114 is a table used to limit the number of distributions of various contents 107, and holds the number of released restrictions and the upper limit of the number of released restrictions for each of the contents 107. In addition,
Content with an upper limit value of "-" indicates "no limit on the number of released restrictions", that is, means that the number of distributions is not limited.

The HTML source 115 defines a screen layout when the browser program 106c of the client performs display processing on the display 102. Note that FIG.
In this example, the number of delivery clients is one, but multiple devices may be connected.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the content 107 stored in the distribution server 110 described above.

The contents 107 are, as shown in FIG.
Content method 210 and control data 22
0 and content data 230. The content method 210 is a group of processing programs for the content data 230 such as display of image data.
It comprises a copy processing program 211, a function restriction release processing program 212, a save processing program 213, a load processing program 214, and a left button click processing program 215. The copy processing program 211 creates a copy of the content 107 in the memory 106. The function restriction release processing program 212 requests the distribution server 110 to release the function restriction, that is, to obtain a license, and when the request is accepted, releases the function restriction of the content 107. Save processing program 2
13 saves the content 107 existing in the memory 106 in the external storage device 108. The load processing program 214 loads the content 107 stored in the external storage device 108 into the memory 106. The left button click processing program 215 defines processing for a left mouse button click by the user.

The control data 220 is a data group for managing the license acquisition status of the content 107, and includes a content id 221 and a license number 22.
2, time stamp 223, and function restriction release flag 2
24 and a license machine id 225. The content id 221 is a unique identifier assigned to each content 107. The license number is a unique identifier assigned to each copy of the same type of content whose function restriction has been released. The time stamp 224 is the time at which the function restriction release was executed. The function restriction release flag 224 is a flag indicating whether or not the function of the content 107 has been released. The license machine id 225 is the machine id of the machine that executed the function restriction release when the function restriction of the content 107 has been released. By performing a match check between the machine id of the running machine and the license machine id 225,
It is possible to prevent fraud such as copying the content whose function restriction has been released to another machine and using it.

The contents data 230 is the substance of contents such as image data and audio data.

The content 107 has a so-called object form, which includes not only data such as a moving image and a still image but also a method (program) 210 for processing the data 230. As described above, since the content method 210 is integrated with the content data 230, for example, a dynamic content that responds to a user operation such as a screen change when a mouse is clicked is not limited to a simple image display. 107 can be realized.

The content method 210 performs an initial process before releasing the function restriction and a main processing after releasing the function restriction.

Next, the processing contents of the browser program 106c of the delivery client 100 will be described. FIG.
Is a diagram showing an example of screen display by the browser program 106c.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 310 denotes a browser display screen, and 320 denotes a URL (Uniform Resource).
Locator) input field, 330, 330a, 330
b, a content display content; 331, a file name specification dialog for specifying a save destination file name; 340, a function restriction release specification button; 350, a load button; 351, a file name specification dialog for specifying a load source file name;
Reference numeral 60 denotes a copy of the content display content. In FIG. 3, the content method 210 is changed so that the display content of the content data 230 changes dynamically with time.
Are shown to be processed. Also, in the initial processing before releasing the function restriction, it is assumed that only the leading content data 230 is displayed. The browser screen 310 displays the delivery server 110
Is displayed in the screen based on the information acquired from the.

In the URL input field 320, the user inputs, via the keyboard 101, the URL of the HTML to be displayed. The URL indicates a location on the network of servers scattered in various places, and indicates a hierarchical structure by “/”, and indicates a location where the HTML source 115 and the content 107 exist. Acquired content display contents 33
0 is where the content data 230 processed by the content method 210 is displayed. However, at this stage, the function of the content 107 is restricted, and only the display of the content data 230 is possible.

The function restriction release designation button 340 is a button for performing processing for releasing the function restriction of the content 107 when pressed by the user. As a result, every time the user performs a left mouse click on the content display content 330, all the data contents of the content data can be referenced so that the content display content switches between 330a and 330b. However, the number of users who can release the function restriction by pressing the function restriction release button 340 is limited. Furthermore, the user can create a copy 360 of the content display content 330 by dragging the content display content 330 with the right mouse button. A copy can be created before or after the function restriction is released. Also,
The user can save the content in the external storage 108 by clicking the content display content 330 with the right mouse button while pressing the shift key of the keyboard 101 regardless of before or after the release of the function restriction. The designation of the save destination file name is performed by the file name designation dialog 331 displayed by this operation. If this operation is performed in a state where the function restriction has been released, the content 107 can be stored in a state where the function restriction has been released.

The load button 350 allows the user to store the content 107 stored in the external storage 108 into the memory 106.
Can be loaded into. The specification of the load source file name is performed by a file name specification dialog 351 displayed when the load button 350 is pressed.

After releasing the function restriction, no function restriction is imposed on the copy of the content display content 330 on the same machine. However, when the saved data of the content 107 whose function restriction has been released is file-copied and executed on another machine, the function is restricted. That is, the function of the copy of the content 107 is restricted again on the machine other than the machine that has performed the function restriction.

Next, the HTML source 115 will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the HTML source 115. As shown in FIG. 4, generally, in HTML, a logical structure of a document, an image, a program, or the like is defined by a marker called a tag (a character string surrounded by <> in the HTML source). In the embodiment of the present invention, an ordinary HTML syntax is extended to introduce a unique tag (<xxload>) for embedding contents. For example, "<xxLoad src =" http: // // shown in FIG.
www. ○ △ □. co. jp / contents / aa
a. xxx ">". This is "http: // w
ww. ○ △ □. co. jp / contents / aa
a. xxx ", the content 10 specified by the URL
7 means get and display.

Next, the above-described browser program 106
The processing procedure of c will be described. 5 to 8 are flowcharts showing the processing procedure of the browser program 106c in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows the overall control processing included in the browser program 106c. The overall control process first determines a user operation (step 501).

If the user operation type is a URL designation in the URL input field 320, the HT shown in FIG.
The ML display process is started (Step 502). If the user operation type is a left button click on the content display content 330, a left button click processing program 215 in the content method 210 shown in FIG. 13 to be described later is started (step 503). If the user operation type is a right button click on the content display content 330, a copy processing program 211 of the content method 210 shown in FIG. 9 described later is started (step 504). The user operation type is keyboard 1
If the right button click is performed on the content display content 330 while pressing the 01 shift key, a save processing program 213 of the content method 210 shown in FIG. 11 described later is started (step 505). If the user operation type is the press of the "function restriction release button" 340, the function restriction release processing program 212 of the content method 210 shown in FIG. 10 described later is started (step 506). If the user operation type is the pressing of the “load button” 350, a load button process shown in FIG. 8 to be described later is started (step 507).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure (step 502) of the HTML display processing started from the overall control processing in the browser program 106c according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the processing procedure of the HTML display processing (step 502), first, the HTML delivery program 113c requests the delivery of the HTML source 115 (see FIG. 4) specified by the URL specified by the user (step 601). The delivery request and delivery are exchanged between the delivery client 100 and the delivery server 110 via a communication line.

Then, the delivered HTML source 115
Is acquired (step 602), and it is determined whether or not the acquired sentence is an <xxload> tag (step 603). If it is an <xxload> tag, s
It requests the content delivery program 113d to deliver the content 107 specified by the URL of the rc attribute (step 604). After that, the delivered content 10
After the file 7 is stored in the external storage device 108, the file name is designated, and a browser program loading process shown in FIG. 7 described below is started (step 605).

In step 603, the obtained sentence is
If it is not xxload> tag, normal HTM
Since the tag is an L tag, a normal HTML tag display process is performed in that case (step 606). And HTM
The next sentence in the L source 115 is obtained (step 60)
7) It is determined whether the HTML source 115 has reached the last line (step 608). If the last line has been reached, the process ends. If the last line has not been read yet, the process returns to step 603.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the loading process included in the browser program 106c in the above-mentioned step 605. The loading process included in the browser program 106c is executed by the external storage device 10
8 as a parameter filename. First, the content method 210 is read from the file specified by the parameter filename (step 701). Then, filena
Using the me as a parameter, a loading process 214 in the content method 210 shown in FIG. 12 described later is started (step 702).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure (step 507) of the load button processing started from the overall control processing in the browser program 106c according to the embodiment of the present invention.

A file name designation dialog is displayed, and the user is inquired about the file name of the load source. (Step 801). File name specified by the user, variable filen
Ame is set (step 802). The loading process in the browser program 106c shown in FIG. 7 is started using the filename as a parameter (step 803).

FIGS. 9 to 13 show contents method 2
The processing procedure of each program in 10 will be described.

FIG. 9 shows a copy processing program 211 included in the content method 210 in this embodiment.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of (Step 504 in FIG. 5).

This copy processing (step 504 in FIG. 5)
Is activated when the user right-clicks on the content display content 330 on the browser screen 310.
An execution memory area is secured (step 901). Next, the copy source content 107 is stored in the secured memory area.
The content method 210, the control data 220, and the content data 230 are copied (step 902). Then, a copy is displayed at the mouse-up position (step 903). That is, when the user right-clicks the content display content 330, a copy of the content is created. The creation of a copy can be executed irrespective of the presence or absence of the function restriction of the content, and the presence or absence of the function restriction release is also reflected in the copy. For example, when a content whose function restriction has been released is copied, a copy whose function restriction has been released is created.

Next, a function restriction release button 3 will be described with reference to FIG.
Function restriction release processing by pressing button 40 (step 5 in FIG. 5)
06) will be described. FIG. 10 is started from the browser program 106c according to the embodiment of the present invention.
It is a flowchart which shows the processing procedure of a function restriction release process (FIG. 5, step 506).

This function restriction release processing (step 5 in FIG. 5)
06) is processed by the delivery client 100 and is activated when the user presses the function restriction release button 340, and the distribution client 100 sends the number of content distribution numbers to the distribution number management program 113e in the distribution server 110. A count up is requested (step 1001). Next, in response to the count-up request from the delivery client, the result of the count-up returned from the delivery server is determined (step 1002). If the result of the count-up request from the server is OK, the license number 22 obtained as a response from the server
2 (step 1003) and time stamp 224
The current time is set (step 1005) and the function restriction release flag 224 is set to “ON” (step 1005).
6) and setting each machine id of the own machine as the license machine id 225 (1007). Setting the function restriction release flag to “ON” means that the function restriction is released. Step 1002
, The result of the count-up request from the server is NG
If it is, a message indicating that the distribution number limit has been exceeded is displayed (step 1004).

Although the description is omitted, if a billing process is required at the time of limited number distribution, the function restriction release flag may be set to "ON" after performing the billing process in step 1006. I do not care.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the save process (step 505 in FIG. 5) started from the browser program 106c in the embodiment of the present invention.

A file name designation dialog is displayed, and the user is inquired about the file name of the save destination file in the external storage device 108 (step 1101). The content method (step 1
102), content id (step 1103), license number (step 1104), time stamp (step 1105), and function restriction release flag (step 110
6), a license machine id (step 1107), and content data (step 1108) are stored.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the loading process (step 702 in FIG. 7) started from the browser program 106c in the embodiment of the present invention.

In the loading process, the file name “filename” of the storage file of the content 107 stored in the external storage device 108 is received as a parameter. First, a memory area for execution is secured (step 1201). The content id 221 (step 1202), license number (step 1203), and time stamp (step 1
204) and a function restriction release flag (step 1205)
And the license machine id (step 1206), and set them in the execution memory area. The read license machine id is compared with its own machine id (step 1207).
Since the specified saved file has been released from the function restriction on another machine, it is necessary to restrict the function on the own machine. Therefore, the license number in the execution memory area is cleared (step 1208), and the function restriction release flag in the execution memory area is turned off (step 1209). In step 1207, if the comparison results in a match, the processing in steps 1208 and 1209 is skipped. Next, the content data is read and set in the execution memory area (step 1210). Finally, display the first photo data of the content data
(Step 1211).

Next, the processing of the left button click processing 215 (step 503 in FIG. 5) of the content method 210 will be described.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the left button click process (step 503 in FIG. 5) included in the content method 210 according to the embodiment of the present invention. This left button click processing (Step 503 in FIG. 5) is started when the user left-clicks on the content display content 330 on the browser screen 310, and first determines the function restriction release flag in the execution area (Step 1301). ). If the function restriction release flag is “ON”, the license machine id stored in the execution area is compared with the machine id of the own machine, and if they match, the next currently displayed content data 230 in the content data 230 is compared. Display the image data of the photograph (step 13)
03). If the function restriction release flag is “OFF” in step 1301, the process ends. Further, if the comparison result of the machine ids does not match in step 1302, it means that the execution is being executed on a machine different from the machine from which the function restriction has been released, and the function restriction release is invalidated, and the process ends. In other words, if on the same machine as the machine where the function restriction has been released and the function restriction has been released,
Left-clicking the content program 210
Is performed (here, a process of successively displaying image data of photographs), and the displayed photographs are sequentially switched. If not, the left button click is ignored. Next, a processing procedure of the distribution number management program 113e described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
It is a flow chart which shows a processing procedure of distribution number management program 113e in distribution server 110 in an embodiment of the invention.

In the process of the distribution number management program 113e, first, the content distribution table 114 is searched, and the number of restricted contents and the upper limit of the number of restricted contents specified by the content id 221 are obtained (step 1401). Then, referring to the distribution content table 114, it is determined whether or not the number of released restrictions is less than the upper limit (step 1402). If the number of released restrictions is less than the upper limit, the number of released restrictions in the content distribution table 114 is counted up by one (step 140).
3) Return OK (request acceptance) and the value of the distributed number as the license number (step 1404). If the number of released restrictions is not less than the upper limit value in step 1402, NG (rejection of request) is answered (step 140).
5).

As described above, in the above-described embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the processing in the limited distribution of the contents of the photo album has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 15, the present invention can be similarly applied to a case where a license contract is made for use of a company logo. In the example shown in FIG. 15, the number of license contracts related to the use of the logo can be limited. In this case, as shown in FIG.
A license contract button 340a is added instead of the function restriction release button 340 shown in FIG. The processing of the content in the distribution server 110 at that time is basically the same as in the above-described embodiment, except for the following.

(1) Instead of “displaying the image data of the first photo” in step 1211 in the loading process shown in FIG. 12, “display a logo with sample characters if the function restriction release flag is OFF” Processing enters. (2) In step 1303 of the left button click process shown in FIG. 13, the sample character is deleted instead of "displaying the image data of the next photo currently displayed", and the printing process of the logo mark becomes possible. Processing enters. (3) If a contract condition is necessary for the license contract, a contract condition table defined for each content is provided, and only the user who clears the condition in step 1006 shown in FIG. To “O
N ". The invention made by the inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiment, but the invention is not limited to the embodiment, and the gist of the invention is as follows. Of course, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0059]

The effects obtained by the representative ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows. According to the present invention, in a content distribution system using a network, a rare value can be given to distributed content by setting an upper limit on the number of distributed content. In addition, even if the distribution limit is exceeded, by providing a mechanism to distribute the function-limited version without limitation, such as being able to display only,
The existence of the content can be widely notified, and the scarcity value of the content whose function restriction has been released can be further increased. As needs for various contents are diversified in the future, it is expected that usage forms that take into account hobby elements such as collection of rare contents will appear. Therefore, the effect of the present invention that can give rare values to contents is high.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a content distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a data configuration diagram of an internal configuration of a content 107.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display by a browser program 106c.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an HTML source 115.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an overall control process included in the browser program 106c.

FIG. 6 is an HTM included in the browser program 106c.
It is a flowchart which shows the processing procedure (step 502) of L display processing.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of a loading process included in the browser program 106c.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a load button process (step 507) included in the browser program 106c.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a copy process (step 504).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a function restriction release processing (step 506).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a save process (step 505).

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a loading process (step 702).

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a left button click process (step 503).

FIG. 14 is a wow chart showing a processing procedure of a distribution number management program 113e.

FIG. 15 is a browser program 1 according to another embodiment.
It is the figure which showed the example of a screen display by 06c.

[Explanation of symbols]

100: delivery client, 101: keyboard, 10
2. Display, 103, 112 CPU, 104
Mouse, 105, 111 ... communication unit, 106, 11
3. Memory, 106a, 113a Operating system, 106b, 113b Communication program, 106
c: Browser program, 107: Content, 10
8, 116: external storage device, 110: delivery server, 11
3c: an HTML delivery program; 113d: a content delivery program;
114: distribution content table; 115: HTML source.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Keizo Uchiyama 4-1 Egasaki-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside the Tokyo Electric Power Company System Research Laboratory (72) Morihiro Shiozawa 4-Egasaki-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa No. 1 Tokyo Electric Power Company System Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Koichi Sakamoto 6-81 Onoecho, Naka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A content distribution system for distributing content data stored in a server to a plurality of clients via a network, wherein a plurality of clients having a browser for displaying content information from the server and a function restriction are added. Content, distribution number setting information for setting the distribution number of the content, content distribution means for distributing the content when receiving the content distribution command from the client, and release of function restriction from the client A function restriction release unit for releasing the function restriction added to the content when receiving the command, and managing the number of the function restrictions released by the function restriction release unit for each of the contents; Release of the function restriction when the number set in Content distribution system comprising a server having a function restriction release number limitation means for stopping release of the stages of the function limitation, in that it is configured. 2. The content distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the browser includes means for restricting copy after the function restriction of the content is released. 3. In a content distribution method for distributing content data stored in a server to a plurality of clients via a network, a distribution request is received from a plurality of clients who can view information of the content. When distributing the content and further receiving a function restriction release command from the client for the distributed content, the number of the function restrictions released after releasing the function restriction added to the content is determined for each of the contents. A function disabling function restriction is stopped when the number of function restriction release requests requested from the client reaches a set number.